During the preseason, the Whiteland softball team came together to establish a list of goals for the spring. One of the first ones the group came up with, without hesitation, was to win 16 games.
Considering that number matched the total number of Warrior victories in the previous three seasons combined, the goal may have seemed like a reach to some. But it’s still within striking distance as the team heads into today’s Johnson County tournament opener against Greenwood Christian with a 10-11 mark.
Head coach Katie Mitchell says that even though the Warriors were coming off of back-to-back 6-20 seasons, the current team came in with a much different outlook.
“They’ve been pretty confident even before the season,” she said. “They set a goal of 16 wins confidently, not even skipping a beat, and so we went into this season knowing we were going to win a lot of games. It wasn’t a surprise, and we didn’t need the wins in order to get confidence. They have confidence in each other, and it’s been nice to see them put it together.”
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The biggest difference has come at the plate, where Whiteland is scoring more than seven runs per game after averaging 4.7 or fewer in each of Mitchell’s first four seasons at the helm.
A talented freshman class has made a huge difference, with three regulars (Aniyah Haley, Debbie Hill and Haley Wilkerson) all batting .400 or better — but the entire club has stepped its game up. Sophomore shortstop Jordan Smith is batting .397 after hitting .185 as a freshman, junior outfielder Allie Watson is up from .189 to .300, and junior catcher Abby Nacio has jumped from .302 to .421.
“We’re stronger offensively 1 through 9 than we’ve been in the past,” Mitchell said. “It’s been fun to watch them each contribute what they’re best at.”
After opening the season with a 10-3 loss at perennial powerhouse Center Grove — a much closer result than years past — the Warriors won five of their next eight games, breaking out for double-digit runs in victories over Southport, Greenwood, Columbus North, Plainfield and Warren Central.
That hot stretch helped convince the young Warriors, who have just one senior on the roster, that they were on to something.
“Our confidence definitely has grown with every win we get,” Nacio said. “I think it helped with the freshmen, too.”
The newcomers have certainly helped to ramp up the offensive productivity. Hill, who leads the team with six home runs and 29 runs batted in, provides a power source, while Haley (.469, 11 doubles, 18 RBIs) and Wilkerson (.406, 19 runs scored, 17 RBIs) have also provided a big spark.
That trio has the Warriors extremely fired up about what’s possible — not just for the rest of this season, but in the years to come.
“I’ve grown up with watching them play, and they’re just studs,” Watson said of the current freshman class, which includes her younger sister Tara. “And in the next coming years, we also have a lot of incoming freshmen that we know about that are very talented.”
Defensively, Whiteland is still allowing about seven runs per contest, but that too is an improvement over the recent past. Junior hurler Delanie Gourley notes that she’s much more confident in the circle this year with the number of errors down by almost one per game behind her.
But Mitchell said the primary focus the past couple of years has been getting better at the plate, and she’s proud of how her team has progressed there.
“We have great leadership this year, and I think our girls are really taking ownership into what our game looks like and how to play our game. We’ve been focusing offensively for the last couple of years, and I think that’s catching up to us. They’re doing a nice job of just playing Whiteland softball and coming together as a team.”
The Warriors still have plenty of work to do in order to reach that 16-win mark, with a strong Mooresville team on the schedule next week and rival Franklin looming in their sectional opener. But they’re going into the stretch run with the same confident attitude that has fueled their ascent all season long.
“I think we can make it far in sectionals if we have our ‘A’ game and we work together,” Gourley said.
“We’re on the right track,” Nacio added. “I think we’re going to kill it.”
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Johnson County tournament
Today
Edinburgh at Indian Creek, 5 p.m.
Greenwood at Franklin, 5:30 p.m.
Greenwood Christian vs. Whiteland at Franklin, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday
At Center Grove
GCA/Whiteland winner vs. Greenwood/Franklin winner, 10 a.m.
Edinburgh/Indian Creek winner vs. Center Grove, 10 a.m.
Championship, 12:30 p.m.
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